Accelerated Learning Resources

Tony Bennett and Paul Pastorek

Two firebrand stalwarts of the “market-based” education reform movement addressed a roomful of state legislators and state officials Monday morning on the cusp of the 2011 legislative session.

Colorado Succeeds, a non-profit coalition of business leaders pushing education reform, brought Paul Pastorek, Louisiana’s state education chief, and Tony Bennett, his Indiana counterpart, to town to send legislators a forceful message.

Their message came through loud and clear, without the usual political niceties and olive branches. Bennett, sporting a crew cut and a folksy, no-nonsense manner, was especially blunt in his assessment of the educational landscape and how to alter it. Pastorek, while no less pointed, was a bit more nuanced in his remarks.

“Our attitude is we have them on the run and it is now time to charge,” said Bennett, speaking of those he termed the “naysayers” who are digging in their heels and fighting changes to teacher compensation and tenure, school choice and pension reform.

“Never has education been more ripe for transformation, and if you stop to take a breath you’re going to lose that opportunity to move forward,” Bennett said. “You’re going to gi

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Tags: Stalwarts, Stalwarts Throw

Just before the holidays, I asked readers to send me suggestions about how to make the Education News Colorado blog a place for civil discourse, debate and disagreement. I appreciate the thought that went into most of the several dozen responses I received. Many thanks to those of you who sent along your thoughts.

What I’ve decided is that to make the blog a more balanced and informative forum, I am going to have to work harder. I will still accept unsolicited contributions from my regular writers. But I may not publish them all. I will spend more time actively seeking pieces from people who are directly involved in issues making news in education circles.

You will begin to see these pieces on the blog today. If you have any suggestions about people you’d like to hear from, please let me know. I will do my best to get them to contribute.

My goal is for the blog to read like the op-ed section of a major newspaper. At times it has fallen short of that standard.

I will also moderate comment streams more carefully. If

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Last week, Adams 14 was featured in an article written by Education News Colorado reporter Nancy Mitchell entitled Census shows education gaps by district, highlighting a variety of challenges that Adams 14 students face daily. While we cannot control challenges at home, we can strive to control teacher quality.

I appreciate Nancy closing the article with a description of the Adams 14 strategy:

But the key emphasis for Adams 14 – while some other struggling Adams County districts have implemented dramatic structural reforms such as Mapleton’s small schools and Westminster’s standards-based system – is improving teacher quality in a traditional setting.

“We believe, regardless of where our students start on the achievement level, they will still realize growth over time if we have highly effective teachers in our classrooms,” Albright said. “We’ve built all of our work around that.”

Adams 14 arrived at its strategy in 2008, after an external review team concluded that a systemic approach to reform was necessary to improve student learning. The review team f

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Tags: Adams, Adams 14

Governor Bill Ritter’s four years saw a burst of progressive education legislation that is already beginning to pay huge dividends to the children of Colorado. I think in four short years Gov. Ritter has had a more dramatic impact on improving education in this state than perhaps any other governor.

From the creation of new accountability structures to ensure that all of our schools meet the expectations of parents and community members to the increased focus on ensuring that our educators are highly effective, Colorado has quickly become one of the nation’s leaders in pursuing much needed reforms to a foundering system.

One of those reforms, of course, is SB 191. Though there is less media attention now, the important work of the Great Teachers and Leaders law continues. The Governor’s Council on Educator Effectiveness is moving closer and closer to finalizing its work and its members will present their findings to the State Board of Education in April. There

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The drumbeat for school reform will continue through 2011 as we figure out what it means to run an education system defined by standards and accountability.  With this in mind here is my Colorado-centric education reform agenda for 2011.

Federal Agenda: The vehicle for federal efforts will shift from Race to the Top to the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.  A key NCLB priority is starting over on the definition of Highly Qualified teachers.  At a minimum Highly Qualified should not include certification. Th

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Tags: 2011